HOT Summer Garden Champions: Which Crops Survived?

So many garden channels do not tell you what zone that they are in. And I have to try to figure it out as I'm watching and see if they are is any value in what they filmed for me. It's so refreshing that you introduce yourself and you tell everyone exactly where you are and what zone you're in. I'm in Youngtown Arizona about an hour from you and I'm in 9B

In the worst of the heat my peppers and eggplant shut down so I covered them with 50% shade cloth and now they're lush + green, pest free and producing again (South Louisiana 9b). My summer champion in addition to okra and basil is Asian long beans - they have various names and types. ONE BEAN trained on a trellis produces like crazy and goes well into the fall. You just have to remember to pick when it's no thicker than a pencil for haricot vert type flavor (except nuttier) and texture. If they get larger you can open them up and eat the beans inside - I use them raw in salads. Two more heat champs are shiso (perilla) and wild arugula - both will jazz up your salads when lettuce won't grow and you're forced to buy some from the grocery.

Peoria AZ here. My Thai basil (and strangely enough, a gardenia plant) is the only survivor through this heat, but it’s living its best life 🪴 My patio faces true north, so it gets a lot of direct sun in spring and summer and little to no direct sun in fall and winter. Looking into finding flowers and crop plants that will do well in that environment in containers. Thanks for your great videos! I’m new to your channel but have already learned quite a bit.

It's good to know it wasn't my inexperience that was making my peppers suffer. The most baffling plant I grew this summer was a tomato plant that was next to a buried clay pot instead on on the hose line. I was experimenting with different ways to save water. This plant did not get consistent watering since I planted it, but it is the largest tomato plant and produced the most tomatoes.

Love that gardening gives us a fresh start twice a year in the low desert of AZ. Couldn’t help but notice the exceptional camera work and editing. Thanks!

I planted Sesame after watching a previous video of yours, I had a hard time getting seeds to survive, but realized I was over watering, now I have some healthy 5 foot tall black sesame doing well, thank you!

Angela, I just moved to Arizona and your videos are invaluable to me. Thank you for sharing your experience. I also love that you pack so much information into each video and they are very succinct, without a lot of blah, blah/fluff. All the best to you!

You have such a beautiful garden. I don;t know how you keep the plants from just burning up. This year with no rain and such high heat it's been hard to keep anything alive including well established trees.

In your videos I see lots of dark green, green plants creating SHADE. Glad you can do that . I decided to end it all for my last survivor, a bell pepper whose larges fruit was less than 1.5 inches across. Hope it made a difference in the compost bin. But right now, busy with my 10 raised beds, getting water involved everyday, a lot of dried out soil, do a couple of beds everyday before the heat. Noticing we are due a few more 110°+ days in the next few weeks, Grrrr!

You have planted a lovely variety in your garden. Yes this year was tough in Arizona and even though I am higher, 5500 feet it was brutal. Between what little moisture we got, including hail, the sun fried everything including the sweet potatoes so I trellised them with arched wire panels. They ended up saving themselves along with watering twice a day. Now I look forward to fall and winter greens and plants. I will miss the fresh okra, but I’ve frozen a lot cause they did wonderfully. Thank you for your videos they really are inspiring!❤️ from South of Sonoita.

Your videos are remarkable. The content, filming… editing Just ALL of it 🌱

My summer champion was okra. My eggplant began flowering 2 weeks ago but no fruit has set yet. Peppers, beans and tomatoes all died. And something ate my cucumber, zucchini and melon plants. Very disappointing summer for gardening.

58 of the last 60 days have been 100+ degrees -- yep, hot summer. My sweet potatoes (purple, lilac, and beauregard) did well as did my Longevity Spinach (Gynura procumbens) which actually tastes more like Romain to me and I used it for sandwiches. Thanks for your informative videos!

I’m in Portland Oregon zone 8B. My most successful crop were my yellow bush tomatoes. I literally have hundreds of them. Very delicious.

I think everyone's garden struggled this year in Arizona. My lemon tree that I've had for 3 years died. I lose a few nopales too. All my peppers died and I didn't see a point in planting anything because it was already so far into the season. I am looking forward to the fall and winter. I've already planted new peppers and some tomatoes and I even planted some basil and zucchini that have started sprouting. I am feeling very hopeful for the winter.

This was an excellent video, Angela! Love these longer format ones and seeing you in action like the seed starting and planting. So well produced, too. Nice job 👍

Sorry you had such a hot Summer! We're in Colorado and it was an unusually cool summer. I think it got to 99 twice, and we used to see in the low 100's quite often.

Thank you for sharing your garden and all of your tips. I especially love the composting basket and flower support mesh. I live in zone 9b SW Florida, and this weekend, May 4th, 2024, I'm putting in 2 raised beds for flowers. I am also growing cantalope and sugarbaby watermelons. The cantalope is already being attacked by melon worms, so we'll see if they survive the heat. I love your garden Angela, and I learn so much from your channel.

I tried soil blocks this season for the first time because I was tired of my plastic seed trays getting brittle and cracking in the heat. Not to mention injuring the tiny roots when I dug them out. I've noticed that the blocks dry out faster but for the most part I think I will continue doing the blocks. I put them in baking trays from the dollar store and just water a bit more.Thank you for your videos. They do help a lot!

Hi Angela, great show! I love your channel. My husband and I were gone for nine weeks - when we came home there were a variety of seven beautiful 2 foot tall basil plants. I’ve already made pesto and I’m looking forward to sharing seeds. Thanks again for all your Information and garden love!